asked the Taoiseach if he is aware that large numbers of boys and girls are continually leaving the Achill area, North Mayo, due to unemployment; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take to remedy this state of affairs.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Emigration from North Mayo.
asked the Taoiseach if he is aware that large numbers are obliged to emigrate from Ballycroy, North Mayo, due to the fact that no regular employment has been provided there; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take to remedy this state of affairs.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to answer Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
As the Deputy is, no doubt, aware, the two districts to which he refers— which may be treated as one area for the purpose of his questions—are districts in which the economy of the population has, traditionally, over many decades been based to an appreciable extent on seasonal migration to employment elsewhere—mainly to agricultural employment in Scotland and England.
In so far as the Deputy's questions are intended to suggest that there has, of late, been any deterioration in the economic condition of the area, the available information indicates that his questions have no foundation in fact. Inquiries which I have had made locally reveal that there is no evidenceof any increase in migration from the area over any previous year, that the total number of persons registered at the local employment exchange at Achill at present is little higher than it was on the nearest corresponding date last year and that the number of men employed on the various State and local authority schemes in the area is now approximately 300 as compared with approximately 260 on the nearest corresponding date last year. The latest available figures for the population of the area—those taken at the Census of 1951—show that, during the inter-censal period of five years from 1946 to 1951, the population of the area increased by 1.48 per cent., as compared with an increase of only 0.19 per cent. for the State as a whole.
I might, perhaps, add that the development of the Ballycroy section of the scheme for the production of machine turf to supply the turf-burning electricity-generating station that will be erected at Bangor Erris will commence this summer and will provide employment for about 30 or 40 men in the Ballycroy district and that it is estimated that, when full production is reached in 1958, employment will be provided for an average of 180 men in the winter and an average of 270 in the summer.
Furthermore, improvement grants out of the Road Fund for County Mayo as a whole for the financial year 1953-54 have been increased from £147,500 this year to £182,400 and, in addition, a sum of £50,000 has been allocated to the county out of voted moneys for the improvement of tourist roads in Gaeltacht and congested districts; there will, therefore, be available from these sources for County Mayo a sum of £84,900 more next year than there was available in the current financial year, and, while the location of the roadwork involved will be a matter for the county council, it is understood that a scheme costing from £6,500 to £7,000 is proposed for the improvement of a tourist road between Achill and Ballycroy and that another scheme costing approximately the same amount is proposed for the improvement of a tourist road between Mallaranny and Ballycroy.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary tell the House if it is proposed to give us any schemes in the North Mayo area—with particular reference to Achill and Ballycroy—that will help to absorb female labour?
Sin ceist eile.
The Parliamentary Secretary indicated the population for the period ending 1951. Could he indicate the drop in the population that has taken place since then owing to emigration?
Is it not a fact that these schemes are special employment schemes and that married men with dependents will get first preference in employment? The question of the employment of boys and girls has not been replied to.
They are not special employment schemes.